What You Can't See
by Hersheyxxes101
Summary: What happens when Gene shows up with a warning? When Naru's emotions start to confuse even himself, will he have the strength to continue the case, even if it means putting the one most precious to him in danger and possibly his own life? Naru X Mai
1. Chapter 1

**Hi! I don't own Ghost Hunt or its characters… though I wish I did…**

**Anyway, enjoy!**

-Thursday April 15-

It was almost 11:00 pm and Naru was still at SPR office filing paperwork and sorting through cases, occasionally tossing a case or two in the trash next to his desk. _Fools… When will something interesting I can work with turn up?_ He thought while he closed his eyes and rests his head in his hands propped up by his elbows, but only relaxing for a few moments before returning to his work.

Lin entered about fifteen minutes later with a cell phone just under his ear. Naru noticed the man but held little regard for him as he walked over, only to fully acknowledge him as he handed himself the phone. "Who is it?" Naru asked Lin before fully accepting the call.

"It's a potential client. He said something about strange whispers, possessing, and an unusual silhouette that keeps appearing in a certain room of the estate. He even reported a kitchen knife that keeps piercing walls of the rooms." When he finished speaking Naru took the phone from him in one hand and continued filing with the other.

"Hello?" He asked into the static of the phone, he was surprised when he heard a familiar voice on the other line.

"Yes, my name is Hatsu Minoru. May I speak to the head of the company?" His voice quivered as he spoke.

"Speaking. Please come by to the Shibuya Psychic Research office to discuss your specific case. Let's say around 5 o'clock, can you make it? … Perfect." The young CEO hung up the phone and then turned to his older guardian. "This seems interesting." Naru then continued with his work.

-**Meanwhile-**

Mai was exhausted after finishing her studying for a big exam that would take place in the morning. She stood out of her chair and stretched her arms high above her head and yawned. Glancing sideways at the clock, she sighed. _It's almost midnight… I have to get to bed. _She thought as she moved herself over to the twin-sized bed at the corner of her room, plopped her face in the pillow, and drifted into a peaceful sleep.

Mai opened her eyes and was in a warm, familiar empty void of space that most of her supernatural dreams took place in. And in front of her, there stood Gene in Naru's usual black button down shirt and pants. "Hi Gene" she said warmly, and then confused. "Wait…We aren't on any specific case at the moment. What am I doing here?"

"I need to discuss something important with you." He replied calmly. This was strange; Gene had never needed to tell her anything outside of SPR.

"Uh… Ya… Sure Gene, what is it?"Mai said. Gene closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"It's Noll. I want you to make sure that he doesn't do anything he will regret."

She stared at the twin in front of him with disbelief and let out a small giggle, quickly bringing her hand to her lips in an apologetic motion. "I'm sorry; it's just that…Naru? Regret? I didn't think that you could use those two words in the same sentence! The only thing I have ever seen Naru regret was ever something stupid like letting Masako blackmail him."

"Well, that may be so but, please, watch out for him. I'm getting worried." He said slower and lowered his head. Gene started to lace his fingers together awkwardly. "I'm worried that he might do something rash because lately, he has been taking more dangerous cases and is forgetting about his and others safety."

After standing and thinking it over for a minute or two in silence she came to the conclusion that it was true, the cases he accepted put us in more danger than he had intended… They had even put us in the hospital a few times. Mai paced the floor of the empty void of her dream land and wondered why this was so urgent that Gene needed to confront her so suddenly. She was stumped and about to ask when the image of Gene started to fade and she woke up to her alarm clock buzzing. Hair ruffled and still dressed in last night's clothing, Mai lazily blinked at the alarm clock. 10:20… _CRAP! I'm going to be late!_ Not even bothering to change her clothes or brush her hair, she grabbed her bags and nosily headed out the door.

_Oh no, oh no, oh no! _She thought as she entered the classroom, panting. Every eye stared at her, it wasn't everyday that someone barged in the room halfway through a test panting as if she had been chased by a murder. Yasu tried not to laugh. Yasuhara transferred to Mai's school, mostly for the convenience of being in the same line of work. He joined SPR permanently a few months ago as Lin's assistant. Lin was now co-owner but Naru was still his superior. A lot had changed yet everything still seemed so similar. She took a seat next to Yasu and began her test a half hour late, straining to finish within the last two minutes. As the familiar pang of relief hit her when she finished the exam and strode out into the hall with Yasu behind her. "What happened?" Yasu asked, "You look like a mess!"

"Ugh, I had a little chat with Gene last night. I overslept." Mai sighed and Yasu stopped in his tracks. His face tightened and he took a shaky breath.

"What did he say?" Yasu asked. Mai looked over her shoulder and turned to face him.

"Just something about Naru and how we should all make sure he doesn't get us into any trouble. Gene thinks Naru might do something rash or anything he might regret."

"Why would that be so important as to tell you at that moment?"

"That's what I was trying to figure out…" Mai brought her hands to her hips and stared out the hallway window for a moment.

"Maybe we should tell Naru. Ask him why he thinks Gene felt it was urgent." Yasu suggested.

"No, no. I don't think that's a good idea. Gene would have told me to tell Naru if that were the case. I don't think he wants Naru to know about this." Mai could tell that this was bothering Yasu, he was new to the business so she could tell he was getting the jitters.

"So let me get this straight… Gene comes to you randomly and tells you to look out for Naru, the one person on the planet who I am 100% sure can take care of himself, and now you want to tell me that it's a bad idea to tell Naru." Yasu looked taken aback and Mai thought over what he had said. _It _was_ unusual, especially since we weren't on a case_. _Maybe Yasu's right, I should probably tell Naru…_


	2. Chapter 2

**Next Chapter up! Enjoy! **

**I Do NOT own Ghost Hunt or its characters! **

-Friday April 16-

Naru walked into the small common room for the SPR office and stared at his friends and coworkers: Mai, Lin, Ayako, Masako, Monk, John, and Yasuhara. Naru had noticed that Mai and Yasu exchanged nervous glances; Yasu seemed to be pushing her on or encouraging her to do something she was undecided about. Though slightly curious, he decided it unimportant.

"Hello everyone." He said, calm and collected. Mai stared at her feet not paying attention. "Mai, if you continue not to listen when spoken to then I'm afraid you will be hopeless in anything you decide to do." Mai's head shot up with rage and frustration.

"Well I'm working for you aren't I?" She shouted. _Ah, that's better _He thought.

"We'll see about that for long." He then turned back to the group who seemed to be amused by their little 'conversation'. Mai knew that he wasn't serious about firing her, they had had similar arguments in the past but none of them had ever held any promise. "Anyway, I have decided to take a case and I was wondering whether or not Ms. Hara, Monk, John and Ayako would mind joining us for this one."

"Wait a second, what are we up against here?" This was from Monk, who got out of his chair and walked to lean against the windowsill.

"Yeah, what exactly _is_ this case?" Ayako crossed her arms and shifted her weight to the left leg. Oddly enough she stayed rooted on the ground she stood on.

" Our client, Mr. Minoru, claims to be living on a haunted estate. He says there are shadows in certain rooms, knifes appearing and stabbing the walls, strange whispers, and the spirit of an old woman possessing young adults. He may be familiar to some of you; he was a TV actor from the late 70's in America, however he retired many years ago." Naru had finished speaking, but everyone was silent.

Everyone was no doubt wondering what could be going on in that house… and why the house of a retired actor? Mai was the first to speak up afterward. "When are we going to go?"

Naru stole a small glance in her direction and looked around to the rest of the group. "Well, if the others decide to come, then we would be departing in about three days. If not, then tomorrow."

"I don't know about them, but I'm definitely in." Monk said with a smile and a big 'thumbs up'.

"Of course I shall accompany you." Masako said softly underneath the sleeve of her purple floral patterned kimono. John nodded in approval that he would also come.

"Well of course I will have to come! You could benefit a great deal with my presence." Ayako said confidently.

"Yeah, benefit from a headache…" Monk grumbled.

"Wha-What did you say?" Ayako turned to face him. And then they were at it, it was no use trying to break up a fight by those two. Naru remembered that the last major fight they had they wouldn't speak to each other for days; just tiny insults from a distance.

"Will both of you kindly shut up…" Naru said slightly irritated, not that anyone could tell. When they finally silenced down, Naru noticed Mai eagerly looking at her thumbs as if that if she looked away they would disappear. "So now that that's settled, I suggest you all go home and pack for the upcoming case." And with that everyone seemed to up and leave. Naru himself was about to head out when he heard his assistant call his name.

"Naru! Wait up a minute.. I have to tell you something." She walked over to where he was standing. Naru was partially out the door but he paused and brought himself fully back into the room and sighed.

"What is it Mai." He said monotone.

"It's really important." Her eyes sharpened and all of the previous nerves seemed to disappear in that instant. Whatever she wanted to talk about, he knew that it was serious.

"Very well." He said as he grabbed her wrist and brought the both of them into his office for more privacy for the conversation; afraid that others lingering around would hear. He wasn't sure if what she had to say was really a secret or not but the information best be assumed a secret… just to be safe. Nary then let go of her wrist and she brought it up to her chest, cradling it involuntarily with the other hand from his hard grip. "Now then… what is it you have to tell me?"

"Well, last night, Gene came to have a little chat with me." She said releasing her hand, letting her arms drop to her sides; she stared at Naru as he tensed. Naru wasn't the biggest fan of Gene violating Mai's dreams. And for some reason, his chest felt slightly heavier whenever she talked of him. He didn't know whether or not it was from grief and pain… or something else. "He told me to watch out for you, and to keep you from taking cases that you might not be able to handle."

"Gene said that?" Naru was tenser than ever, and from the way he spoke, Mai could tell he was irritated.

"Yes." Mai whispered, afraid to make her boss angrier. In truth, what Gene told her had frightened her a little, and she didn't want Naru to end up in the hospital again. "I was wondering, maybe this might be the case Gene was talking about… can't you just let your heath be first priority for once?"

"Mai. I don't need you looking out for me. I know what I'm doing; I am quite good at my job. I won't take I case I feel we can't handle. But we can handle this. Now, have you told the others?" Naru was mad now, she could tell just by hearing his voice, even if his face was completely impassive.

"No… Well, I did tell Yasu. He told me to tell you, I originally planned on keeping it a secret from you. Yasu talked me out of it." Mai lowered her head, finally at a loss for further words.

Naru turned away from her and walked out into the hallway. "Mai," he said without turning to her. "We will be leaving on Monday. Try not to be late… Again." And with that he left.

Mai couldn't help but to have a small, sad, smile on her face. _Naru… just admit it when you can't handle it… we, I, will always be here for you. _She stood there for a few minutes, thinking. She was startled when Lin came into the room, slightly surprised to see her there. "Mai?"

"Uh, sorry! I'll be going. I just had to tell Naru something, that's all…" startled, she rose up her hands as if protecting herself from an invisible force and gave a nervous little laugh. She calmed down and looked at Lin. "Lin, has Naru always been like this?"

The tall Chinese man looked blank, no doubt confused slightly by the sudden question. "What do you mean?"

"I mean… has he ever depended on anyone? Ever known when enough is enough?" She almost felt sorry for her boss.

"Well, we are talking about Naru here," Lin walked into the room and looked at Mai, seeing the worry in her face. He had never seen her so seriously worried about Naru. _Something must have happened… _He stood for a moment and sighed. "Take a seat, Mai. There is something I think I should tell you."

**Me: Thank you all for reading! Wow, I can't believe how many people read this in such a short amount of time! I even got a review :3**

**Ayako: well don't get too excited… its only one…**

**Me: Well that's one more than you have! **

**John: Why don't I have any lines? **

**Me: o_o You can tell the readers right now to read & review if you want…**

**John: Read and review everyone!**

**Me: Happy?**

**John: Quite **


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello Everyone! Another chapter out for you all to read! Hope you enjoy it!**

**I do NOT own any Ghost Hunt characters (sadly T-T)**

Mai did as told and sat on the fabricated chair that rest in front of Naru's desk and turned it so it was facing Lin. "So what is it?"

In all honesty Lin was surprised. Even if it was Naru they were talking about, he didn't expect her to be so solemn. Everyone in SPR knew that Mai was in love with Naru, even if she didn't know himself. They could see the way she worried about him, the way she talked about him, they way she got so irritated with him. She was 99% in love, and the 1% that was missing was her being conscious of it. It was kind of like a sad love story, at least that's what Monk would tell them when Mai and Naru weren't around. Lin had to admit that it was true, but hopefully what he was about to tell her would help her understand… if she got the hint. "Mai… do you know how Gene died?"

The sudden question startled her. "No… He never told me, and I doubt Naru ever would." It was the truth. Gene had never told her, probably because the reason for it had never occurred. She had always assumed it was some sort of accident, accidently falling from a ledge, car accident, shooting spree at school, or something similar.

"You're right, Naru would never tell you," Lin then walked past Mai and sat on the edge of the desk. Mai turned her chair slightly to face him. "And he wouldn't because then he would have to tell you the whole story."

Mai was confused, and stunned, but most of all, she didn't know what to say. She was so curious; it was like a little child on Christmas Eve. An awkward moment passed between them, but she could still think of nothing to say. Seeing this, Lin went on. "Naru's Uncle, passed away at 16. His uncle was his father's twin. Same happened with his Grandmother's sister, and many generations before."

"And…And one of them always died?" Mai asked and in return Lin nodded.

"It was said to be a family curse, one that no specialist could ever understand." Lin glansed in her direction as if to ask 'Do you understand?'. But it was clear that Mai didn't. So many questions were swimming around in her head all at once she could barley think!

"Were they all 16?" She asked, but Lin shook his head.

"No, Gene was 15. Some were older, some were younger. It all varies. Even the way they die varies. Gene caught in their house while it was burning down. A bookshelf had collapsed on top of him and he was knocked out. He then either suffocated from the smoke or burned to death. Naru had never told me." Lin said. Mai's eyes widened and she brought her hand to cover her mouth.

"That must have been terrible…" She barley whispered it. Her eyes stared straight ahead as she imagined the Gene she knew burning, calling for help when he knew it was already too late. "How did they know which twin was…" She couldn't finish the sentence; it was too awful to even think.

"…Going to die young?" Lin finished her sentence for her and sighed. "Naru had PK. Naru's Father could talk to spirits, and his grandmother was a medium."

"So the one that wasn't psychic… didn't make it?" Mai asked and Lin nodded. "So they all knew they were going to die from the start, didn't they?" Another nod from Lin, this time the nod was slow, as if there was a sad weight on his neck. Mai looked at her hands. "Why are you telling me this?"

"It's important for you to know, I have something else I want to tell you too." He looked at her and Mai nodded, as if giving permission to continue. "Now, Naru nor his father nor Grandmother know this…"

"So nobody who was affected by the curse knows?"

"Not necessarily. His mother knows, and his grandfather knows, but it is because the curse doesn't stop there, but it is never known by the other sibling." Lin could see Mai's confused face so he closed his eyes and continued talking. "The spirit of the deceased twin always becomes the 'spirit guide' of the one who loves the other most."

Mai felt heat rise to her cheeks. "So, what you mean is that I-I…"

"You're in love with Naru." Lin said quite bluntly. Mai shot out of her chair, face beet red with either embarrassment or anger, probably a little of both. She tried to conduct her words into sentences but they just came out as gibberish. Lin motioned his hands for her to calm down, so she sat down again, refusing to meet eye contact.

"And…And Naru doesn't know? About this part of the curse, I mean." Mai asked almost in a grumble. Lin couldn't help but chuckle a little.

"No, he doesn't."

"And that's why Gene is my spirit guide?"

"Yes."

"Aw man…" Mai sighed and snapped her head down. "Poor Naru… So he knows that this is going to happen to his children too?" Mai stared awkwardly into his imagination and looked at Naru as a father with kids; somehow, the image didn't fit quite well. "Well, I guess he could just not have kids." Lin shook his head.

"No matter how many people say in their family that they won't have kids, they always do. It's part of the curse." Lin then stood up and walked back over to the door; he was no longer facing her. "You should probably get home and start packing. Oh, and Mai?" He looked back at her.

"Yes?"

"Don't tell Naru I told you anything, he would be extremely angry." And with that Lin was gone. He stood outside the door for a moment and sighed. Walking out of the SPR Building he thought _Well, at least I told her the truth about everything… mostly…_

Mai sat there for a few minutes, thinking over everything she had just heard. It was all such a heavy burden to carry on with your family. She stood up and walked out of the SPR Building in silence, locking the door behind her.

She walked the rest of the way to her small apartment thinking… She was thinking about Naru, Gene, Lin, and his family. Mai had heard much of his family, only that Gene was his twin who died at a young age. She never knew how hard it must be for Naru, now and then. Mai's face was wet from the rain by now, but she didn't care. _Naru you jerk… Just come to us with these problems… There can't possibly be anything harder than keeping this bottled inside. _

Mai stopped at the gate of her apartment and wiped her face, she looked up at the sky. There was no rain.

**Me: Yeah, this chapter was my 'explaining chapter' if that makes any sense…**

**Lin: I don't think I ever talked so much in my life!**

**Me: Yeah, well… .**

**Gene: You made me die in a fire? Couldn't it have been something more dramatic like a gun fight, or accidently being buried alive?**

**Me:… Stop watching so many soap operas…**

**Me: Sorry I can't make everyone happy! Would you rather not be in it at all?**

**Gene: Fire is totally fine… all orange and… flammable**

**Lin: Talking's fine…**

**Me: Anyway, Read & Review Everyone! I 3 you all!**

***Please excuse any spelling mistakes… I haven't slept in over 14 hours… so… sleepy…***


	4. Chapter 4

**Next Chapter up! Sorry for delay, traveling… summer work… :P not fun**

**Anyway! I do NOT own Ghost Hunt or its characters!**

-Monday April 19-

**8:18 AM**

_April, 2011: Case Evaluation _

_Case: 1_

_Begin: April 19, 2011_

_End: -_

_Description/results: -_

_Additional Information: -_

Mai looked over the document that she was required to bring on every case since things had changed the previous year*. It was the April Evaluation and each month they would get a different document. It was the first case of the month, usually they didn't get more than two, and Mai was not in one bit of a hurry to work today.

All weekend she had to go through the usual routine before a case. First, she had to do the dreaded task of packing: Mai went through nearly everything she owned to find clothes that still fit and she had to check her bag four times to make sure she left nothing behind. Oddly enough every time she checked she was missing at least one critical object whether it is pajamas, cameras, paperwork, and once she even forgot the Case Evaluation document. She got such a lashing from Naru that now she just has it in her pocket at all times, neatly folded.

The second part of her before-case-routine was getting school permission. Yasu and she had to get school permission for trips. Even though they allowed jobs, they were skeptical about 'business trips' as they liked to call them. This was Mai's least favorite part. It involved a lot of paperwork, doctor's notes, and calls back and forth from Naru. It amazed Mai how Naru could put up with the constant calls from the school, some not even relevant to permission to leave school. Sometimes the teachers or principle just lash out at Naru; telling him that it was an irresponsible profession and it was unnecessary and stupid. Naru and his employees' school were not on great terms that April after a nasty phone call so it took a bit more to allow them to leave school for the case.

Finally, after all that she had to meet her boss and the rest of her friends in front of the SPR front door, which she was currently running down the street with her duffle bag over her shoulder trying to get to before she was late. She folded the document and put it in her left back pocket of her jeans and ran up to her friends once she arrived, "I'm here," she panted, "Sorry…I'm late…" She said huffing and puffing.

"Gosh kiddo; why the big rush?" Monk asked, taking her duffle bag and putting it in the back of the SPR van which was parked along the street next to them.

"Well, I didn't…want to be late…" Mai groaned and sat on the sidewalk, catching her breath. The bell to the SPR door rang when the door opened, and everyone turned to see Naru with the last of the paperwork, no doubt some kind of information about the case, walking out of the building.

"Mai, you're late." He said coolly, "I would have expected you to come on time at least once in your life."

"Well for your information, I was kind of busy talking to my principle on the phone," Mai stood up and crossed her arms, "Which _somebody _got a call from yesterday and _completely _ignored!" Everyone stared at Naru. It was true, she received a call right before she left. She had to apologize on Naru's behalf and it slowed her down by nearly an hour. Mai had planned to get there early but because of Naru, she was nearly twenty minutes late.

"What can I say? The woman was quite persistent about you staying back. I had to give her a piece of my mind; it would have been unfair to lie to her." Naru simply pushed by Mai and sat in the passenger's seat in the van.

"Why you little—" Mai started but was cut off my John.

"Now now, let's not get too angry. Come on Mai calm down." John walked over to Mai and reassured her that it wasn't her fault. Ayako and Monk started to laugh and Masako just giggled behind her kimono. _Some things will never change, _John thought, _but I do wish Mai wouldn't lose her temper so much…_

**12:36 pm**

They had been on the road for an hour now and mostly everyone was asleep. Lin and Naru were up front, Masako, Mai, and Yasu were in the back, and Monk, Ayako and John were in another car, following behind the SPR van. Masako was against sitting next to Mai, so Yasu just sat in between them to shut them up. Masako was sitting behind Naru and though she would never admit it, she was upset since she couldn't see his face. Both of them (Yasu and Masako) had fallen asleep during the first half hour.

Mai had never liked car rides, and this was no exception. She didn't like the bumpy roads or the hard seats; naturally she couldn't fall asleep so she just stared out the window. Hills and highways passed and it was nearly forty-five minutes before Mai got bored. _I should have brought a book or something… I didn't know the car ride would take this long… I wonder what Naru's doing to keep himself occupied. _Mai quickly glanced at Yasu and Masako who were deep in sleep then looked at her boss from an angle, who was sitting calmly in the passenger's seat. To Mai's surprise he was asleep. _I've never seen him sleeping before… _Mai thought. Before she even knew it she found herself staring at him. Not just his face but his hair, his shoulders, any part of him she could see through the corner of her eye.

A deep blush came to her face when she recalled her and Lin's conversation from a few days prior. "_You're in love with Naru." _Lin had said. She then thought about Gene. She was told by Naru once that she was in love with Gene. Looking back on it now, her feelings were clear. Gene was a friend, a good friend who helped her out a lot, but he was nothing more than that. It was Naru she loved. Looking at Naru's sleeping face, she wondered how she could have ever fallen in love with him, and after all, he was a jerk most of the time. Before she could think more on the idea, Naru started to stir when the van hit a large bump. Yasu and Masako also woke up, groaning and whipping their eyes as they did so. "Rise and shine!" Mai mocked.

Yasu groaned one more time and cracked his neck. "You didn't fall asleep?"

"No, I can't sleep in cars. It's too uncomfortable." Mai smiled and looked at Masako, who was still half asleep, leaning against the window.

"How long have we been on the road for?" Yasu looked at his wrist, only to realize that he had forgotten his watch at home.

"Uh," Mai looked at her own watch, "It's nearly 3:20." Yasu whistled.

"That's a long time, no wonder my neck is stiff…"

"Well, we are almost there. About five minutes or so now left." Lin said from behind the wheel in the front.

"That's good, if I am in this car any longer I might throw up!" Yasu imitated puking which made Mai laugh a little. Naru glanced for a miniscule fraction of a second at Mai, and almost smiled to himself.

The pulled the van into an, in Mai's opinion, a beautiful mansion estate. There was a large garden visible from the driveway and even a gazebo. There was a small pond in the front yard too, which was equally as big. A quaint little bridge connecting to a path that went through the garden in the back was over the pond too, there were little ducks swimming around underneath it.

Monk pulled up the blue BMW up next to the van and parked. "Some place…" He said when he got out and stood next to Mai, who had just gotten out of the van.

"It's amazing, I can't believe how isolated it is, I didn't see any other houses for miles on the way over." Mai turned around only to see Ayako and John getting out of the blue car, Ayako did not look too happy and John was trying to calm her down. _Poor John, why do I feel like he is always the one who gets to play the friendship counselor? _Mai thought to herself. She assumed that Monk and Ayako got in a fight again; it always seemed that they were at each other's throats.

"Ah, welcome! I'm glad you're here!" Said a voice from behind them, they all turned to see a relatively short man. He was old, around well into his 60's; he had salt and pepper color hair, and wore a blue polo shirt and grey pants. He looked like he was about to go golfing somewhere fancy. "I am Hatsu Minoru. I trust your trip was well?"

Naru walked up to the man and shook his hand. "It was quite well. I assume that we can get started as soon as possible?"

"Ah, yes, yes. Of course!" The man motioned them toward the house. Bring your luggage with you too; I have three rooms ready for you. One for the gentlemen, one for the ladies, and one for… what did you call it? You're base?"

"Yes, thank you."

When the group finished getting settled in the bedrooms and finished setting up base, it was well after 8:30 PM. Mr. Minoru offered dinner to them and they would be sharing the meal at 9 o'clock. It was fairly late for dinner but since they had been busy all day there wouldn't have been any other time to eat.

"Come on Ayako, we are going to be late for dinner!" Mai shouted. She was standing in the door frame f the girls' room, Masako next to her. Ayako was in the bathroom after taking what seemed to be the longest shower ever.

"I'm coming!" She said as she finally came out dressed, her hair still slightly damp. They started walking over to the dining room in silence.

"This place is so pretty…" Mai finally said, more to herself than the others.

"I think it's kind of creepy." Ayako said, faking a shiver, "I mean, we are all alone out here. Only one person lives in the huge house too. Don't you think that's kind of strange?"

Mai laughed. "Sounds like you're sca-red."

"I am not scared! I just don't think it's normal…" Ayako averted her eyes from Mai's. Mai was still laughing.

"I sense a spirit here. It's restless." Masako stopped walking and brought her sleeve to cover her mouth as she spoke. Ayako and Mai stopped to look at her. "The spirit here; it's holding a grudge."

"Are you sure?" Ayako asked. Masako nodded.

"It wants blood…" She whispered her eyes wide. Ayako and Mai could only imagine what she was seeing at that moment.

**Me: And the case has started! Thanks for all the views so far :3**

**Mai: I swear in all these chapters I sound like a love-sick puppy**

**Me: Well are you? *nudge nudge wink wink***

**Mai: Am not! *blush* **

**-Naru enters-**

**Naru: Why is your face all red? Did I miss something?**

**Mai: Nothing! Nothing at all! I was just telling the readers to read & review!**

**Me: Well I could have done that myself… **


	5. Chapter 5

**And another chapter is here (wayyy after deadline too! Sorry! And what better day to upload than Halloween?)**

**I do not own ANY PART of Ghost Hunt OR its characters!**

"Come on, we have you to Naru and the others. Do you think you will be able to tell them exactly what kind of spirit is here?" Ayako said, leading Masako by the shoulder toward the dining room, where everyone was already settled and waiting.

"I am not sure; I don't have a very good understanding of the spirit. It is guarding itself, being very protective. It is shouting, yelling in anger and rage. It wants to shed the blood of another; the grudge against this person is very large. Something terrible must have happened to between the spirit and this person." Masako closed her eyes as if to sense the spirit better, "It wants someone… someone it can't find."

They entered the dining room; Ayako had one hand on Masako's shoulder. Masako looked like she was going to pass out any moment. "Naru! Its Masako!" Mai shouted, "Something's wrong with Masako!"

Naru and the others got out of their chairs and toward Masako. Mr. Minoru and Lin stood up, concerned but from a distance. "Maybe we shouldn't all crowd around her and go sit down; then she can tell us what happened." Monk suggested and everyone did so. Ayako brought over a chair for Masako to sit in and Yasu, John, Monk, and Mai went and stood over by the dinner table to give her some space and let her rest for a while. Ayako stayed back with a hand on her forehead, as if checking for a fever, decided she was fine, and went back to join the group at the table. Naru stayed near her because she refused to let go of his hand. Mai's eye slightly twitched at the sight of this.

"I can go and make her some tea…" Mai suggested, but was interrupted by Yasuhara.

"No, no. You stay here; Masako might need you for something. After all, you are the only other one here that can sense spirits almost the same was she does, even Ayako can't see them as you do. I'll go." Yasu said and stood up from the chair he was sitting in. Mai didn't complain and nodded. She was a little upset though; the only reason she wanted to leave the room was so that she didn't have watch Masako fawn over Naru like that. Yasu was about to leave the room when he stopped, looking confused into the hallway.

"I'll show you to the kitchen. I wouldn't mind a cup of tea myself." Mr. Minoru said and then accompanied Yasu to the kitchen, out of the sight of the other SPR members.

After a few minutes Masako looked up at everyone and brought her sleeve to cover her mouth as she spoke. "It's the spirit here…" she said quietly. Lin started taking notes silently as he sat at the table. Masako continued, "I cannot tell whether it is a woman or a man, or even an animal of some sort. What I do know is that it is very angry at someone. It wants to get revenge on a specific person, though it cannot find them. It is very restless, and won't pass on until it has fulfilled its dying wish: To kill this person for the sake of its own pure hatred for them."

"Is the person the spirit wants to find still living?" Naru asked. Masako shook her head.

"No, it is a spirit that has already passed on. I could sense only one spirit here, but I can sense the remains of a spirit that has passed on."

"Are you sure that the passed spirit was the one this spirit was after?" Naru asked.

"No, but I can only sense one spirit here; and that seems like the most likely option. I do know for a fact that the spirit being sought out by the one that haunts this home is already dead though, it has made that clear even though I am not positive that it knows the one it's after has already passed."

"My head hurts, this is so confusing…" Monk grumbled.

"Wait…" Masako whispered urgently and everyone turned their head toward her. "I sense the presence of another spirit."

"Can you give us a description of the spirit?" Naru asked. Masako nodded and closed her eyes.

"It's a small child, a boy. He looks as if he was an elementary school student… At his death he was maybe eight years old? Yes… that's it." She nodded as if approving herself and continued, "I can sense that the spirit has been here for many years, much longer than the one haunting this place."

"So that rules out the boy as being its target, right? After all, if the boy died before this mystery person, their dying wish would have already been fulfilled." Ayako said.

"Well now. Look whose catching up!" Monk said mockingly. Ayako harshly connected her fist to his head in a swift punch. He sunk to the ground, clutching his head in pain.

"I'm sorry, who exactly was the one complaining about a headache moments ago? I don't seem to remember…" She turned her back to him and grinned, "Oh right, it was you wasn't it Takigawa?" She said in a sinisterly sarcastic tone.

"Okay... I get it… You didn't have to be so mean…" Monk inched away and pretended to cry. "Mai-chan! Ayako-baka is being mean to me!" He moaned like a child and clung to Mai's leg.

Ayako spun back around stared incredulously at him as he did so. "Will you quit your whining? I swear you are just a little baby sometimes… And who are you calling baka?"

With that they were at it again, spouting insults and punches left and right. Mai managed to squirm out of Monk's grasp just before Ayako's last witty comment and shouted at them both. "Will you guys quit it? You both are being ridiculous! How can you be fighting at a time like this?" They both hung their heads apologetically. Mai, satisfied with her sternness, turned back to the rest of the group followed by Ayako and Monk, who hesitantly made up seconds before. As much as the rest of the SPR group tried to ignore the fight, it seemed impossible. Even Naru found himself distracted by the bickering.

"Well, now since that little interruption is settled…" he gave a meaningful 'death' glare to Ayako and Monk, who shivered at the sight of him, "Masako, can you tell us anything else about the spirit of the boy here?"Masako looked up at Naru slightly confused.

"Yes. But…" She looked down as she brought her sleeve away from her face, "No as well. The spirit is trying to hide its identity from us. He seems to like the fact that we are here, but he is also afraid. I can sense that the other spirit, the one seeking revenge, knows that the boy's spirit is here. It does not seem to like his presence much, but it also doesn't seem to care."

"So the boy is afraid of the other spirit and does not want to make it angry or upset…" Mai said, more to herself than the others. _I wonder why… _She thought.

"I think that's exactly right. Now the big question here is what would make him scared… It's not like he's the one the spirit's after, so he shouldn't have to worry, right?" Monk brought his hand to his chin, closed his eyes and thought for a moment before sighing and opening them again. He had no idea.

Naru spoke up this time. "Not only do we have that to figure out, but the reports we got said there was an old woman's spirit possessing young adults who visited here, kitchen knives stabbing walls, and also a strange shadow appears in certain rooms, with no body belonging to it."

"I wonder how many spirits actually are here…" John said quietly and shook his head. "Masako, are you one-hundred percent sure that there are no other spirits?" She nodded.

"It is only the boy and the restless one. However, this one confuses me. I can't get a clear image of it. The more I try to sense its identity the more confused I get." Lin and Naru exchanged glances when she said this. Lin scribbled something in his notebook but remained quiet. She kept mumbling but Masako seemed to be getting weaker and weaker with every word she spoke. Her eyes were beginning to close and her words were separated by long pauses. Everyone looked at her, worried, as she fainted and fell onto Naru.

"We should get her to bed, she looks like she could use some rest…" Ayako said walking forward to the unconscious medium. She took Masako's hand with one of hers and supported her back with her other, helping her stand up. As she did, Masako's hand slipped out of Naru's, causing Mai to bite back a triumphant grin. Slowly, the two made their way out of the room and into the hallway. Everyone was silent as they watched them exit.

"Mai." said Naru, with his usual monotone voice. She was startled at Naru's sudden call to her.

"Hai." She replied.

"When we finish up here tonight, before dinner starts, I want you to go and watch Ms. Hara for the remaining of the evening." He turned to her with a serious look on his face, "Understand?"

"Hai…" She answered, less than enthusiastically. Her stomach silently growled in protest but she knew better than to go against her boss at a time like this. She had completely forgotten about dinner up until this point. Mai sighed slowly. "I can only imagine what the spirits here have gone through… and what they plan on doing here too." She thought out loud. She almost forgot about their conversation just a few moments prior to Masako fainting. "Who could have done something so awful, that this spirit can't even rest until that person is dead?"

The air again grew stiff with silence as they all remembered. They thought and tried to analyze what exactly they were dealing with here. It seemed hopeless at this point, and they hung their heads in defeat. It was still too early in the case to try and figure anything out. All they could do was sit and wait for something to happen. Just then, Yasuhara and Mr. Minoru re-entered with a tray of tea for everybody. "We're back! Hot tea anybody?" Yasu asked smiling, he then noticed the absence of his friends, "Hey… where's Ayako and Masako?" It seemed to have been a bad time since everyone's faces grew dim. They all looked pretty serious and deep in thought. "Did I miss something?" He asked.

Mai turned to him and returned a little smile. "I'll fill you in later, now's not the _best _time." She gave a little nervous laugh, trying to break the tension in the room. John generously took the tray from Yasu and handed everyone a cup. Yasu and Mr. Minoru looked at each other confused, but got themselves situated around the table. Naru, Lin, Mai, Monk, and John also made their way over to the table to sit while they discussed what had just happened. The client and the new assistant listened intently to the events that occurred in their absence and tried to follow with what they were saying.

About twenty minutes had passed and Mai was sitting silently at the far end of the table, staring down at the wood while twiddling her thumbs. She stopped listening to the conversation about two minutes in. With everything going on in her mind, she just couldn't focus on what they were saying and hadn't been paying attention since then, letting her mind wander a bit.

Mai was bothered, worried, and confused about what Gene and Lin had both told her a few days prior. She lifted her head slightly and glanced at Naru for a moment as he talked. _How could someone keep so many things locked inside their heart? Why doesn't he ever talk to us about anything? I know I'm not the brightest person but if there's even one thing I can do, it's being there for someone._ Her train of thoughts seemed to be running on one track today, and she couldn't bring herself to think of anything else. It was like an old film was rolling in her mind, playing back lines from her recent conversations.

"_I want you to make sure that he doesn't do anything he will regret."_

"_I'm worried that he might do something rash."_

_Gene seemed so worried when we talked, it was so urgent too… I bet Naru probably told him everything. I can't even imagine how lonely he must have been after Gene died, feeling as if he had nobody to talk to._ Mai thought this feeling as if there were a heavy weight sewed into her heart, tearing at the seams. If this is what Gene wanted her to do, then she felt that she should have done a better job of it. They had only been there a day and yet someone was already hurt. _Was this what Gene was talking about? What can I do? How do I keep my promise to Gene and keep Naru from making a huge mistake? Did he already make it by bringing us here? _She was at a loss, her eyes began to water but she quickly blinked them away before anyone noticed, grateful that they were too deep in conversation to acknowledge her anyway.

"_Gene was caught in their house while it was burning down."_

"_He either suffocated from the smoke or burned to death."_

_What was it like for you, Gene? Did you cry out for help? Did you sit silently, knowing it was going to happen eventually? _The image of Gene came to her mind. She imagined his smiling face that she had seen a countless number of times and tried to imagine what it must have looked like on that day; she couldn't. There was never a time where she had ever seen him look as if he were in that much pain. She then thought about how Naru hardly wore any expression at all, always shutting people out and never letting people in.

_"The spirit of the deceased twin always becomes the 'spirit guide' of the one who loves the other most."_

"_You're in love with Naru."_

_Is this what it feels like to be in love? _Mai asked herself. How did she feel? Her heart felt heavy and sad, as if it was herself feeling the pain she imagined Naru to have felt. She wanted nothing more than to take any pain he had locked away and to destroy it with a single touch. She wanted to be able to see him sincerely smile for the first time since Gene's death and be able to laugh again. _Yeah… this is what love feels like._

Without even realizing it, she let a small tear escape her eyes, not even noticing the fact that Naru had been staring at her the entire time.

_I never want this feeling to end._

**Me: Hello everybody! I promise that I'm not dead yet, I'm still alive and writing!**

**Ayako: Took you long enough, for someone who is supposedly 'alive'**

**Me: What's that supposed to mean?**

**Ayako: Well, I'm just saying, when was the last update? Three… no… Four Months ago?**

**Me: Sh-Shut up! I've been busy... *stares at floor* Shouldn't you be telling the readers something right about now? Well ha! Now you can't! **

**Masako: Please remember to read and review everyone! And thank you very much.**

**Me and Ayako: O.O Where did you come from?**

**Masako: What? I haven't had a turn yet…**

****Happy Halloween Everybody!****


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello! Another chapter! Wow I am aweosome today! Totally worth the lack of sleep! **

***currently 5:32 in the morning and I have to wake up for school in less than 45 minutes, but hey, at least I got the next chapter up!***

**I do NOT own any part of Ghost Hunt or its Characters**

_Mai… Why are you crying? _

This was the only thing running through Naru's mind at the moment. He was discussing things about the case with the others around the dinner table before they ate. Mai became extremely quiet all of the sudden and all she did was look down as she twisted her thumbs. After she took a quick glance at Naru from the side, he kept a close eye on her. Nothing that was logical for tears had happened. _So then why is she crying?_ He asked himself. This was something Naru knew he shouldn't be concerning himself with. It was completely irrelevant to the case or any business he had there. For all he knew she could have had a piece of dust in her eye but that seemed pretty unlikely, even for Mai.

They had finished explaining what they knew, what they didn't know, and what they needed to know about the case a little after 9:00pm. The entire time, Mai was silent. "I think this just about covers everything so far. Lin, do you have a record from today's events?" Lin nodded and held the notebook up for him to see it.

"Should I have Mai copy these to this month's Case Evaluation?" Lin asked. He didn't look up at her, but he stared straight into the pages, flipping through and highlighting the most important things that needed to be transferred.

"Yes. Mai, did you hear that?" Naru asked, "Mai? Are you listening?" his tone was harsher and he had to raise his voice a little to get her attention. Her head snapped up to see everyone staring at her. Naru wondered what she had her mind so vigorously focused on.

"Hey… you okay there kiddo?" Monk asked, tilting his head slightly.

"I'm sorry." She turned her head slightly to face Naru, who had been sitting next to her. She tried to hide it, but Naru could see perfectly the tears the remained in her eyes as she subtly blinked them away. "I guess I kind of drifted off there for a minute." Mai said and she gave a small nervous laugh. The others seemed to just shrug it off and have their own conversations. John and Yasu were talking to each other quietly while Monk poking Lin, trying to get a reaction from him and failing miserably. Mr. Minoru seemed to take amusement in watching them and laughed to himself a little, despite the anxiety he must have been feeling at the moment regarding the case.

"Next time you decide to 'drift off' do it on your own time. I can't waste my time repeating myself to you every time I speak." Naru stood up and turned away from the rest of the group, ignoring Mai's angry glare and rant about who-knows-what. John was trying desperately to calm her down as Monk held her back. Naru couldn't help but smile to himself in a way that nobody could see. _She's so easy to tease; at least now she's back to normal and can focus on her work. _He then left the room and slipped into the hallway, unnoticed.

"Mai, I think you need to calm down a bit. You should go rest for a while; you didn't get much sleep today did you?" John was successful in trying to ease Mai's anger. Monk let her arms go and she just sat there silently and sighed.

"I guess you're right." She looked over at Lin, who now moved on from his notebook onto his computer. "Hey Lin, pass me the notebook. I'll go copy the notes while I watch Masako."

"Hey, where's Naru?" Monk looked around the dining room but couldn't see any trace of him.

"He slipped out while Mai was off on a rant." Lin said, not even looking at them. He stood up, gathered his laptop and his pens, and started to head toward the hallway. "Oh wait. Mai, catch." He tossed the notebook in her direction and she caught it with her left hand, nearly tripping and dropping it in the process.

"Gee… Thanks…" Mai said sarcastically as she balanced herself on her feet.

"I think it would be best if everyone rested for a while. Come back here fifteen minutes and we can have dinner. I apologize for the late meal." Mr. Minoru said to the remaining SPR members, "Oh! And tell your friends as well, we don't want them to starve." And with that they all went back to their rooms to shower, change, or just relax until dinner.

Naru had made it back to the boy's room shortly after he left. Their room was about twice as large as the girl's room. Considering the fact that they had more males than females, it wasn't at all surprising. The room was in the shape of a rectangle, with two desks, four beds and a pullout mattress from the couch. The bathroom was on the other side of the hall, since their room was originally meant as a study and not a guest bedroom. There was also no closet, so awkwardly in the corner was a small dresser with a table lamp resting on top of it. There was only one window, and it was on the wall opposite to the door, looking out onto the garden in the yard.

He started to fill out paperwork, and then switched to reading over one of his favorite books which he had already read twelve times. Still, he couldn't seem to focus, which was very unusual for him. His mind kept bothering him with concerns about Mai. Anything that he thought of had to do with Mai. _I don't understand this. Why can't I stop thinking about this? _It wasn't necessarily the fact that he was thinking about her that bothered him, but the fact that he was thinking about why she seemed so upset. Why she was crying. Naru grunted to himself in frustration and tossed aside the book.

After a few minutes of silence Lin entered the room and silently sat down to continue his work on the laptop. John, Yasu, and Monk came in shortly after, laughing and talking. "Hey Naru," Monk said, absent-mindedly pointing a finger up toward the ceiling. Naru looked away from Lin to Monk, who in his opinion looked absolutely ridiculous. "Mr. Minoru wants everyone to come to dinner in about ten minutes. He felt bad that we were interrupted the first time we tried to eat and wanted to make sure we didn't go to be hungry."

"I see." Naru said inattentively as he went and picked up his book from the ground and began reading where he left off. He had no real interest in the book anymore, but he didn't want to continue some meaningless conversation either.

Dinner had passed uneventful, which disappointed Naru a little. _At least she can follow orders…_He thought, referring to the fact that Mai had stayed back and skipped dinner to watch Masako and guard her. Now that he thought back on it, Naru didn't like the fact that Mai was there practically alone, and he mentally slapped himself for not thinking of that sooner.

At around 9:40 pm Naru excused himself early and went straight to his room to finish reading the book. Not once did he even comprehend what he read, for his thoughts that night were solely of his small, clumsy, redheaded assistant.

**9:45 pm**

Mai had been assigned to look over Masako for the second watch while the rest of the group ate dinner. Ayako would come in again afterward if Masako hadn't woken up yet and Mai would then go and eat what had been left for her. In the meantime, she walked around in the girls' room taking a look around. There were two beds and a couch in the room. Mai and Ayako argued for the other bed briefly but Mai agreed to sleep on the couch. The bathroom was attached to the room; it was next to a small closet. To the right of the closet was the door to the hallway. On the opposite side of the room was a large window with red drapery. They didn't seem to fit the room though; the rest of it was quite bare.

_It's so boring in here… _Mai thought. She finished copying the notes much faster than she expected, ignoring one that said 'Mai loses focus during case discussion". Her mind wandered to the rest of her friends eating dinner; her stomach grumbled. _Aw man… I'm so hungry! _She looked at Masako, lying in bed. It looked like she was sleeping peacefully now and had gotten over her slight fever. Her breathing was now normal, her skin had more color to it, and she wasn't cringing from the cold.

After snooping around and finding nothing particularly interesting for an hour, Mai sat on the couch and let the boredom take over. She looked over some files about the case, did some required school work (since she was missing school, she had to make up the work), and even took a quick shower since Ayako had taken so long and Mai never got a chance to. She looked at the clock at it was already past 10:20 pm by the time she was finished.

Ayako walked in around five minutes later, Masako was still asleep and it looked like she would sleep through the night just fine. Mai was back on the couch reading a book, "How's Masako?"

Mai looked up and smiled, "She's fine, she's still asleep." Ayako sighed.

"Asleep? That's good." She then waved Mai away and took a seat at the foot of Masako's bed, taking her temperature again.

"I think her fever went down, she seems a lot better than she was before." Mai put down her book, happy to finally be entertained by something other than ink on a page.

"You're right, her fever went down completely. She should be fine when she wakes up. I'll take over watching her; you can go into the kitchen and eat. There's some food left, steak I think." Ayako said and quickly added, "It's in the kitchen so be careful and don't get lost!" This earned a nasty look from Mai.

"I'm not stupid! I know where to go." Mai said angrily.

She thanked Ayako anyway and jumped up from the couch. She was out the door in less than a minute and was glad to finally be able to stretch her legs and get out of the room. Walking across the hallway seemed to take longer than she had expected and it felt much longer than the first time she went down it.

After walking for a few minutes she slowly stopped and leaned against the wall. She thought about everything that had happened today and about what was going to happen in the near future of the case. _I hope Gene was wrong about this… I hope this case isn't as bad as he might be suggesting. Naru hasn't done anything rash yet, so that's good. Well, nothing I know of at least… _Mai's thoughts had somehow wandered to Naru and a small blush appeared on her face. Looking down, she slapped herself in the face as if to get the image of him out of her brain; she didn't want to think about him right now. Embarrassing as it was, she knew that if she did than she wouldn't be able to stop. Almost immediately after her hand hit her face, she regretted it, sucked in air sharply through her teeth and held her other hand up to her cheek, cradling it as it would help to stop the sting.

"I didn't know you were so stupid as to slap yourself intentionally." said a calm voice from in front of her. Without even looking up she knew it was Naru; she could feel his smirk with just the tone of his voice.

"I didn't do it on purpose!" Mai said defensively, still rubbing her cheek, "I was just tired and needed to wake myself up somehow." She knew Naru could see straight through her lie but as long as he didn't know the real reason, she was fine.

"That's still intentional, baka." Naru said as he walked past Mai and went further down the hallway.

"Where are you going? Isn't it a bit late to be exploring, Naru?" Mai spun around to face him as she spoke.

"Couldn't I ask you the same question?" Naru replied in a cold tone of voice.

"I'm just going to go and get something to eat. If you don't remember, I haven't eaten anything all day!" Mai lowered her voice a bit when she realized she was shouting. "I wonder whose fault _that_ was!" She said sarcastically.

Naru felt a small pang of guilt which surprised him. Since when did he care whether or not his employees had a good meal for dinner or not? He stopped walking and headed back to where Mai was. On the inside he was confused, but on the outside he was angry. "Go. Eat. Now." He said, eyes piercing.

Mai was stunned. She didn't think he would get so angry with her. Quickly turning around and heading to the kitchen, she moved too fast and tripped. Falling on her ankle, she yelped out in pain. "Ow!" She sucked in air through her teeth again. Mai looked up at Naru, expecting him to say something insulting or make fun of her for being so uncoordinated.

Instead, Naru reached down and picked up Mai. "Baka! You should really watch where you're going to step before you start walking." His tone wasn't mad anymore and he sighed, it was actually calm and almost tired sounding. It sounded like he was giving in to some fight that he knew he would lose. Admitting defeat… "Can you walk?" He asked.

Trying to walk was useless. Mai glued her eyes shut as she fell painfully to the ground with a thud. Her ankle was broken, and there was nothing she could do about it now. She shook her head, afraid that if she spoke she would cry out in pain. Naru looked at her than down both ends of the hallway. "Come on, you said you were going to the kitchen, right?" He asked, reaching out his hand for her to take it. She looked up at him confused, she couldn't even stand, how was she supposed to get to the kitchen? Understanding the situation, Naru sighed.

"You really did it this time, didn't you Mai?" He smirked, "I should have known you would do something stupid and get hurt sooner or later. I didn't expect it to be something as small as tripping over your own feet though." Mai's anger flared up as she growled in frustration at him. Before she had time to even think he was carrying her bridal style, being careful not to bump her foot against anything, and was walking toward the kitchen entrance. _What? What the hell! Naru put me down you idiot! _Mai thought utterly shocked and confused by him. It took every bit of her willpower but she managed no to blush, at least not that much anyway.

The pain had gone down a great deal and she no longer felt the urge to scream. Testing out her voice, she called out softly, "Naru?" He looked down at her with a blank expression.

"What do you want now?" He asked. He was back, cold, unfeeling Naru. _I wonder what came over him so suddenly. Whatever it was, it's gone now and he seems back to normal… It was almost as if Naru was trying to be… nice. _Mai almost laughed to herself, but bit her lip to keep it from escaping.

"Nothing, forget it. My foot feels a little better now. I think I might be able to walk…" Mai said while looking down, completely embarrassed.

"You are an awful liar, you know that?" Naru chuckled a little, but it was small and sad for a laugh. "You wince every time your foot moves an inch. We have to get you to a hospital." They just found the kitchen and were surprised to see the lights still on.

"Someone must have left them on…" Mai said quietly, but shifted slightly closer to Naru, as if that alone would protect her. She realized that he was still carrying her and blushed before she could stop herself. "You can put me down now, Naru. I can sit in a chair just fine!"

"Wait…" He said, listening and watching very closely. Something wasn't right. He could feel it.

"What are you talking abou-" Mai was suddenly cut off by a horrible sound. It was like two blades scraping against each other repeatedly. It was coming from all directions, and kept getting louder and louder. Naru instinctively held Mai closer to him, and tightened his grip protectively. Mai's eyes were wide with fear, she seemed frozen and no matter how much she willed he hands to cover her ears, they just wouldn't budge.

Out of nowhere, it seemed, a large knife flew from every possible shadow and soared through the air, gaining speed and moving in Mai and Naru's direction. Naru ducked just in time as the knives hit the wall behind them with a loud bang and stuck to it, as if glued there. Not wasting any time, Naru ran out of the room as fast as he could, still being careful not to hurt Mai though. He didn't know where he was going and he didn't care either. He just knew that he had to keep Mai from getting any more hurt than she already was. As he picked up speed, she clutched onto his shirt and shoulders, hanging on to him so she wasn't dropped or flung out of his arms.

_Can you play with me?_

_Can you play with me now?_

Mai's eyes widened and her entire body stiffened in Naru's arms. She couldn't tell who the voice belonged to, but it sounded sinister and full of malice. She looked up, only to see Naru running like before, as if he hadn't heard anything at all.

_I want to play. Let's play. _

_I know the perfect game. Want to know the rules?_

Mai tried to scream out to Naru that there was something wrong. She didn't want to play; she didn't want to know who was saying these things. She shut her eyes in hope of the voice fading away. She shook her head violently from left to right, answering the voice and earning a confused look from Naru.

_Nuh-uh. That's against the rules. No saying 'no'._

_Oh well… If you don't want to play with me, then I don't think I want to play with you either._

Suddenly, Mai couldn't feel her body anymore. She was somewhere else entirely. A big black void stretched for and eternity in front of her. She knew where she was and relief and fear washed over her at the same time. Mai was dreaming. Gene appeared and walked over to Mai. He seemed calm, despite the urgency of the situation. "Gene!" She shouted and threw herself into his arms, he tried to comfort her as best he could, but he didn't quite understand what was going on.

"Mai, what's wrong?" Gene asked, worried. Mai was a little surprised that Gene didn't already know. Realizing that somehow the spirits of the house were limiting the amount of knowledge that could get through to Gene, Mai rushed to explain everything that was happening right before she fell asleep. Knowing herself better than anyone, she probably fainted. She finished her explanation with the voice she heard.

"I see. I knew this was going to happen." Gene hung his head and slowly let go of Mai. She looked up at him confused and waited for him to continue, "Mai. I need you to listen to me very carefully. Can you do that?" Mai nodded.

"Hai." Mai replied in a whisper. Her eyes were full of anxiety and fear. Gene could tell that Mai wanted nothing more than to wake up from this nightmare back on the couch in her room, seeing that none of that day had ever happened. Sadly, when she woke up, she was going to have to face the full reality of this bad dream.

"Mai, I need you to talk to Noll. I need you to tell him everything you told me," He stopped but Mai could tell he still had one more thing to day. She nodded in a way that encouraged him to continue, "Tell him to say these words exactly:

'_Open, flow, engulf._

_Close, seal, renew._

_Death and Life are one._

_Be the one who knew.'_

Do you understand? Tell him those exact words… Noll will understand when he hears it." Mai nodded but she didn't understand. But she could understand the importance of the small poem, so she quickly memorized it. All too soon the black around them changed and morphed itself into a new place entirely. Mai's eyes widened as she knew and guessed what sort of things she was about to see. It were things like these that made Mai wish she didn't have these dreams, no matter how helpful they were.

**Me: ok, ok, how awesome am I for putting up two chapters in one night/early morning?**

**Gene: Hey look! I can make a rhyme anytime!**

**Me: Huh? Ok, sure, that's not the point, the point is that I—**

**Gene: I'm a poet and didn't know it!**

**Me: I don't like people that rhyme, I think that should be a crime! Can ya beat tht?**

**Gene:… don't forget read and review everybody!**

**Me: hehehe… thought so**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey Everyone! Ok, two in one day was cool… but three? Can't get any better!**

**I do NOT own any part of Ghost Hunt or its Characters!**

_They were now in a long hallway, one that was easily recognizable as one in Mr. Minoru's estate. There seemed to be a big dinner party happening in the closest room to them. In front of the door was a little boy who looked about eight years old and an older woman of about forty or fifty. He was repeating the same thing over and over again to the woman, talking to himself a little as he did so, "Can you play with me? Can you play with me now? Can you play with me now, Momma? Papa doesn't want to play. Sissy doesn't want to play. Brother doesn't want to play either. Can you play with me now?" his eyes were so sad and neglected, full of longing for his mother just to hold him and play. Mai had never seen anyone look so alone in her life._

"_Sorry sweetheart, but Momma can't play right now. Momma has to be good company to all the nice people in there. You understand right? Maybe we can play next time, ok?" _

"_Momma, you said that last time too, and the same thing the time before that!" He began to cry and his mother bent down so she was at his level._

"_Momma has been very busy lately. She needs you to be a good little boy and stay away today, ok?" She patted his head and walked through the doors, joining the other cheering voices and lively music. Not once did she even turn to see her little son as she left him there alone._

"_So cruel…" Mai whispered. Her heart reached out for the little boy, and it took a lot for her not to run up and hug him right then. _

"_Momma doesn't care. Poppa doesn't care." Tears were falling down the boy's face and he sobbed hard. Mai suddenly felt a connection to the little boy's heart and brought her hand to her mouth to keep herself from screaming with the sudden change of emotion. It felt as if her whole world had come crashing on top of her. It felt like everyone she had ever known and loved had disappeared without a trace, by barely even acknowledging her existence. It felt as if she were the only one who had ever felt pain or sadness, and there was nobody to confide in, for everyone was an enemy. _

_It was the most awful feeling that Mai ever experienced. She wanted it to stop before she actually did scream. "This is how the boy is feeling right now…" Mai said barley above a whisper between chokes. "No… it's more than just this moment… This is how the boy always feels, isn't it?" She turned her head up to look at Gene. He rubbed her back, trying to calm her down and nodded. "How awful…" She said, sympathizing with him. _

_The boy shouted as he asked again, even though the answer was more than clear to him, "Can you play with me? Can you play with me now?" Nobody answered but his own echo. Without even thinking about where he was going, the boy ran. As fast as he could, in any direction he could go in that would lead him someplace else. _

"_They don't want to play with me!" He shouted at the top of his lungs while crying, he ran up a flight of stairs, and another. _

"_They don't care about me!" His sobs were heartbreaking to listen to, but even Mai's hands couldn't keep the sound from stabbing her ears. He ran down another hallway, then up one more flight of stairs to the flat roof. _

"_They don't love me…" His voice was worn out. The little boy was exhausted from crying. His nose and eyes were red and puffy. No matter how many times he wiped his eyes, more tears formed to take their place. "Is everyday going to be the same?" He asked the empty air. Mai gasped._

"_It's like this every day?" Mai asked, not taking her eyes off the boy. She could feel Gene nodding his head._

"_Yes." Gene sounded heartbroken as well and Mai realized that he, too, must be feeling the strong emotions of the young boy. _

_The boy walked over to the railing and bent over the edge slightly, even more tears streamed from his eyes as he looked down. "NO!" Mai screamed as loud as she could, but she wasn't even heard. Gene held her back as she tried to run forward to stop him. She was too late. _

"_I just wanted to play with you, Momma…" He whispered, "I thought you wanted to play with me too." He closed his eyes and leaned forward with all his weight, falling over four stories to the concrete below "I love you, Momma, I really do." Was the last thing the little boy could say before he hit the ground below. Mai looked away and cried into Gene's chest. He stroked her hair in a comforting way, and directed her back toward the scene before them. The boy was dead. _

_Someone from inside the estate, probably a party guest, saw this happen and screamed. Everyone flew to open the windows and were pushing and shoving each other to try to get a better look at what had happened. Most of the women were sobbing into their husbands; others were silently looking down, unknowing of what to say. At last the little boy's mother pushed through the crowd to see what had been going on, and what was so frightening. She looked out the window and down at her only son. It was her only little boy, the same one who loved her with all his heart to the very end. _

_Not once did she cry, she just sighed and shook her head. Turning to her terrified and traumatized guests, she smiled and shouted, "I'm so sorry for the inconvenience! Please, enjoy the rest of the night. My husband will take care of the little mess outside." Mai's eyes widened. She gasped and brought her hand to her mouth. _

"_She doesn't even care…."Mai said quietly. More tears began to form in her eyes, and a new emotion filled within her. Rage, anger and hatred for the mother filled Mai's heart. She didn't deserve to live anymore if she could smile at the death of her only son. _

"_Mai… calm down. You have to remember that these emotions aren't your own. They are the boy's." Gene reminded her warningly. Mai's hand flew to her heart and she snapped out of it._

"_But I started to hate her after the boy…fell." Mai gulped, "If they are the emotions of the boy… then, where is he right now?" She was afraid that she already knew the answer, but wanted it to be anything but that._

_But Mai's fear had been true. Sitting on the windowsill were his mother looked out from, was the boy, wide eyed and full of malice. He watched the whole night as she danced and sang, not even giving him a second thought. He vowed that one day she would regret it. He vowed that she would be the one to die next and that he would dance next to her body, like she did to his._

**Me: Is it stupid that I cried while writing this? T-T soo sad**

**Mai: You think you cried? You made me cry almost every three seconds!**

**Naru: Mai cries at rainbows… of course this would make her sad.**

**Mai: Wha-? That is such a lie! You jerk!**

***Mai runs off***

**Me: *laughing so hard I can barely speak* Na-haha-Naru… will you do the honors? Haha!**

**Naru: Why certainly. Remember to read and review everyone!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hello Everyone! Wow… there must be something about Halloween that makes me want to write a lot because here I am again!**

**I do NOT own any part of Ghost Hunt or its Characters!**

-Tuesday April 20-

Mai's body slowly began to move again. First she just wiggled her fingers a bit, and then fluttered her eyelids. She tried to open her eyes, but there seemed to be an invisible force sealing them shut. _Where am I? Did I wake up yet?_ Mai thought to herself sleepily. She hoped that she was awake, one more second in that nightmare and she would have lost it.

All the memories from last night and the awful dream and rushed into her, penetrating her thoughts suddenly with no warning. It was like a jump start of adrenaline; her heart sped up and she jolted up out of bed, eyes open and wide. She gasped as if she had run out of air, her hand flying to her heart involuntarily. _It doesn't feel heavy anymore…_Mai thought as she gently measures the distance between her heartbeats. She then gently touched her eyes, remembering how much she had cried. _They're dry… not even swelled. _ Mai sighed with relief, which only lasted a moment before she realized the intense throbbing in her foot.

_Oh right… I forgot… I broke my foot yesterday when I was with Naru. _Mai panicked, _Naru! Naru? Is he alright? Where is he?_ So many questions entered her mind at that moment she could barely think. Too much had happened in such a short amount of time. Mai was at her breaking point, and it was only the second day. She could tell it was daybreak because rays of warm sunlight laminated through the blinds of the window, hitting her gently on her face and arms. It felt nice.

_Wait a minute… our room had curtains, not blinds… _Mai was back in a panic again and she struggled to see where she was. It was hard though, her eyes hadn't adjusted to the light yet, and sitting up too fast had made her dizzy. She pressed her palm against her temple with the little strength she had to try to suppress the newborn headache. _It's all white… and soft… I think I hear some sort of beeping noise too. _She heard the door open somewhere to her left and tensed. She was too weak to keep in place, and fell back onto the pillow, closing her eyes again, but not sleeping. _Where am I?_ She thought to herself hopelessly.

Someone suddenly called out to her, "Miss..? Miss Taniyama? Are you awake?" Mai tried to speak, but no words came out, only a long-winded mesh of syllables. She grunted in response to the voice. Mai's vision was coming back to her now. There was a woman standing in front of her, she was about average height and slightly overweight. She had chocolate brown hair tied up in a neat bun; overall the woman didn't look any younger than twenty-five, thirty and the oldest.

"You mustn't move around so much. I have a Mr. Kazuya Shibuya here to see you, along with some…" she looked at the clipboard held in her hand, "co-workers is what it says here." She looked at Mai skeptically, she seemed a little young to have a full time job, but she didn't question it. "Should I let them in?" Mai nodded slightly, which just added to her headache. She regretted doing that now, it seemed pretty stupid now that she thought about it.

"Mai! We were so worried about you!" shouted Monk as he practically capered into the room. _Ow… my head… _Mai loved them all like family, but sometimes she just wanted to punch them for not thinking. The pulsing in her head was too much to bear, she lit out a soft whimper and hoped that they would all catch on and be quiet.

Apparently, when the woman had said co-workers, she literally meant everyone. Naru, Lin, Monk, John, Ayako, Masako, Yasuhara, and even Mr. Minoru came. He said he felt guilty and responsible for the fact that she had gotten hurt, and came over to apologize. After he did, he left to go watch the house, now too afraid to leave it unguarded. _Come over and apologize? So I'm not in the estate… who was that woman? Why don't I know where I am and why won't anybody tell me!_

"Mai, how are you feeling?" Naru asked. He was sitting in the chair right next to the bed, something grey and beeping was behind him. Mai couldn't tell what it was.

"No… goof." Mai tried to speak, but she was fumbling with her words still. "I…foo…flieerdd (I'm so tired)." Her eyes were beginning to droop again. She had just woken up and she couldn't believe that she was already exhausted. She sighed, "Fwher am I?"

"The doctor gave her some medicine that affects her speech; the effects should wear off in about a minute or so." said the same woman, who was standing by the door.

"Thank you, nurse." Yasuhara said, bowing. He dismissed her and went back to where he was, leaning against a wall. _Doctor…? Nurse…? Oh no…_ Mai grunted as she realized where she was. _I hate hospitals._

Mai thought of everything she had to tell her friends when she got her voice back. She had to tell Naru about the dream, the little boy's voice, and what Gene told Naru to say out loud. The little poem was repeating over and over in Mai's head so she wouldn't forget it.

Also… the whole thing with the little boy troubled her. Masako sensed the spirits just fine, but their roles were reversed when she did. Mai remembered that Naru once said that female mediums are either exactly right or way off base. But she wouldn't have said that either of those descriptions fit exactly what happened. If you were to say she was exactly right, that wouldn't be true because of the interchanging roles the spirits had. In Masako's prediction, it was the little boy that was the one hanging back, not the mystery spirit. But from what she saw and experienced, it was the little boy who was definitely the one haunting the place.

Then that left the question of who was the mystery spirit? Mai had originally thought of it being the boy's mother… but if that were true, then it would have been like Ayako said and the boy's wish would already be fulfilled. If it were somebody else, then why would they be afraid of the little boy? What would he possibly have over them?

Suddenly she remembered her dream very clearly. "They" the boy had said. _"They don't love me…"_She remembered much too clearly now for her taste. Mai stared into space as she thought about who 'they' are. His mother was definitely one of them, she knew that much. Her eyes suddenly widened as she remembered.

"_Momma doesn't care. Poppa doesn't care."_

_Who is 'Poppa'? His father, most likely… _Mai thought to herself. _Could it really be possible that he is still here after all this time? _The more she thought about it, the more likely the option became. If only she could figure out why. _Why would he still be there if it was the mother he was really after?_ Mai didn't think anything was making any sense at the moment.

So deep in thought, Mai completely forgot about her friends until she turned toward them, seeing their worried faces. She had to tell them now. She knew that she couldn't just keep her mouth shut any longer, for her own sake and theirs. "Guys… I need to tell you something—"

"Mai-chan! You're not mad at me for yelling right?" Monk was at her side again, shaking her shoulders roughly. Mai felt like she was going to puke and was almost relieved when Ayako came over and punched him on the head, making him release her. She felt dizzy now, and her headache just worsened.

"Monk…" Ayako's tone was surprisingly deadly, and Monk quickly calmed down and behaved. Naru was the next to speak up.

"Mai. Do you remember anything before you passed out?" His face was serious, but his voice sounded indifferent. Mai nodded. She sat up slowly before proceeding to speak, obtaining a more comfortable position.

"I remember running down the hallway. After a few minutes of that I felt something was wrong, and then I heard the voice of a little kid. It was talking directly to me, and when I looked up to see if Naru had heard it too, it didn't look like he had." Everyone's eyes widened and they listened intently to Mai's story.

"Why didn't you tell me anything was wrong right when it happened?" there was a harsh edge in Naru's voice, Mai felt guilty about it, and agreed that she should have told Naru. She was too frozen with fear to even think straight at the time though, it completely slipped her mind.

"I was too scared to move, let alone speak." Mai said softly. Naru's shoulders slumped a little and he sighed.

"Well? Go on…" He said, urging her to finish explaining what happened.

"Hai! I heard the little kid speak to me; he kept asking me 'Can you play with me? Can you play with me now?' I tried to shake my head and tell him no, but he just said 'Nuh-uh. That's against the rules. No saying 'no'" Mai looked up at her friends to make sure they were following; she could see Naru's eyes slightly widen as he remembered her shake her head.

"After that, he told me 'If you don't want to play with me, then I don't think I want to play with you either.' And then I think I fainted." Mai finished.

"What does his last comment mean?" Naru asked. Mai seemed a bit taken aback. She had never really thought of that before. Mai stared frozen at the sheets when she realized what he was saying. The others noticed her tense up, and asked her was she was alright.

"Revenge…" Mai whispered. She was talking to herself now. The others around her disappeared and she sat in her own secluded world to panic. "It's all part of his revenge…"

"Mai? What are you talking about?" Naru leaned in closer to her, as if trying to get her attention. It didn't work; her eyes were carried beyond the sheet, beyond the world it seemed. She was completely blocking them out.

"Just like she did to him…" Mai said in a shaky voice. _He was going to get back at her. Make her feel the same, cruel death he had to._

"Mai? Mai, get a hold of yourself!" He was now lightly shaking her shoulder, trying to snap her out of whatever trance she was in.

"She danced around his body…" _She crushed his heart, broke every feeling of love for her and turned it into hatred._

"Mai! MAI!" Naru yelled her name but it still held no effect.

"He vowed to do the same…" Mai had tears forming in her eyes, she turned her head to her friends but she still could not see them. Naru took his hand off her shoulder and stared at her along with the rest of the group, unknowing of what to do. _The same… _

"'Poppa' is just bait…" she looked back to where she was before. _He knows. The little boy knows his mother has already passed on. It's not like what Masako thought; he is using his own father…_

"Mai…?" Naru extended his arm out to her slowly, with the intention to lightly place it on her back for support. Without even looking his was she grabbed his arm in a tight and hard grip. Naru winced.

"He's going to kill me… I'm going to die… It's me… I'm part of his revenge…" She was whispering the last sentence. _I am her replacement… he will kill me to avenge himself… in place of his mother… no… I don't want to die yet…_

**Me: Ooohh… cliffhanger**

**Mai: I don't die… right? O.o**

**Me: muahahaa… we'll see… hehehe**

**Mai: *gulp* Read and Review everyone! **

**Me: Review if you wanna see the girl live! MAUAHA**

**Mai: O_O Happy Halloween!**


	9. Chapter 9 Chapter 8 Part 2

**Hello! Happy Halloween (again)!**

**Here is chapter 8 part 2 (technically Chapter 9 – next will be chapter 10)**

**I am almost 100% positive this will be the only chapter split into two… both of them together was just too much… even I confused myself and I wrote it! XD**

**I do NOT own any of Ghost Hunt or its Characters**

Masako couldn't take it anymore. She walked up to Mai and slapped her square in the face. "Mai! Listen to me! Snap out of it! Tell us what's going on! Who is going to kill you! Who is 'Poppa'! Why is he bait? What is whose revenge?" Everyone stared at her incredulously. It was the most they had ever seen Masako speak out. Not to mention the first time she raised her voice and actually hit someone.

Mai slowly came to. She let her eyes dash around the room before staring at her grip on Naru and letting go. "Sorry everybody…" She was still crying. They could do nothing but stare at her wide eyed and confused. Masako was the only one who seemed to have any will to move and, shocking everybody, she hugged Mai. When she did this, Mai exploded into tears and hugged Masako back like she was the last person who would ever see. None of them even knew how desperate the hug was for Mai, after feeling the emptiness and lonesome emotions of the spirit boy.

"There, there…" she soothed and stroked Mai's hair, as if she were her mother. They could hear the sincerity in her voice, but could see the awkward tension between them. After all, they were not the best of friends. After Mai began to calm down a bit Masako pulled away from the hug. "Now, tell us everything." Mai nodded and began telling her dream about the boy, from start to finish. She left out the part about Gene's message for Naru. She would tell him that later.

When she finished, everyone stared at her with pity and fear. "Who knew the boy would turn out to be the violent one…" John said, shaking his head a little.

"I still don't quite understand… Why would the kid keep his dad hostage if he knows his mother has already passed on?" Yasu asked. Mai looked down at her lap and sighed.

"It's because I am his mother's replacement." Mai said slowly. She didn't want to cry anymore, she was sick and tired of it.

"What do you mean 'replacement'?" Yasu asked. Not only him, but almost everyone looked confused. All except for Naru; he was back to normal, wearing his expressionless mask as always.

"When we were running away in the hallway, he asked me if I wanted to play with him. I said no and he told me I was 'breaking the rules'. He said he didn't want to play with me either, if I didn't want to play with him." Mai explained. She looked around, but they still seemed confused. She sighed and continued further explanation.

"If you compare he says to me with him and his mother, he also said she 'broke the rules' by saying no and that she didn't want to play with her son. He said if you don't want to play with me, I don't want to play with you either. Again, comparing this to his mother, he vowed to do the same thing to her as she did to him. I didn't want to play with him, I wanted him to disappear and go away forever. He he will do the same to me." Mai looked down; the stiff silence in the air told her that they knew what she was talking about. They finally understood.

"And when he does that… I will die and he will be avenged." Mai couldn't bring herself to look at her friends, who no doubt were looking at her with sad eyes, thinking about any other possible way to get through this without losing her.

"So, why use his father as the hostage?" Yasu asked. Mai shrugged.

"Probably because he assumed I wouldn't sit back and lit him kill his own father, just for the sake of revenge." Mai's voice was quiet and sad, which worried everybody. It sounded like with every passing second there was another weight on her shoulders. Naru wanted nothing more than to take the weight off and see Mai smile. He didn't know why, but it was irritating him a lot.

"No!" Naru raised his voice and stood up, "This just doesn't add up right!" Everyone turned to start at him. "Usually, when a spirit seeks revenge after a person, they don't ever give up on hurting that one specific person… Even if they have knowledge that the person they are looking for has already passed on." Monk stood up as well, and continued with his own theory.

"Oh! I think I get it… If what Mai is saying is true, then the little boy's spirit is seeking a different type of revenge? One that might not necessarily be on his mother, but rather to avenge himself by seeing someone else suffer through the same pain he did" Monk nodded to himself, liking that idea. However, Naru shook his head against it.

"No quite, but close. It means that because Mai is just a substitute for the real thing. The little bay believes that is he takes out his revenge on anybody who refuses to play with him, he will kill them all just the same. So Mai was correct about having the little boy kill her in place of his mother, but it wouldn't just stop with here. Most likely, this has been happening for quite some time now…." Naru sat back down and sighed. Everyone was stumped on what to do. Right now, he didn't care how stupid the plan was, he just wanted Mai out of it and alive.

"Who knows how many people have been killed by him, if that's the case with the boy." John commented. He was right; Naru had tried to explain that. They hadn't done enough research in the house and that was obvious. "But still… it doesn't tell us exactly why he is holding his father there. Just assuming isn't going to get us very far." Monk sighed.

"John's right… we need a reason and some hardcore proof to figure out that one." Monk scratched the side of his head. He was soon almost knocked completely over when Yasu pushed him from behind.

"That's it!" Yasu yelled, smiling, "Monk you're a genius!" Everyone, including Monk, was looking at him as if he had just lost an ear then found it in his soup or something. "We don't have proof! That's the whole point here! Having no proof is out proof!"

"Sorry mate, you lost me there…" Said John while laughing nervously and putting his hand behind his head. The others simply remained silent, unsure of how to respond to the student. He wasn't making sense to them. Yasu gave a small grunt of frustration and proceeded to explain his reasoning.

"Don't you get it? Poison mirage…" He said the words slowly and clearly, and as soon as he did everyone's ears shot up and their eyes widened. "The fact that there is no proof of the father being held hostage, proves that the boy must have used a poison mirage."

"Of course... Now it makes sense." Naru mentally kicked himself for not thinking of this sooner and saving everyone the trouble. "He used the poison mirage on Masako at the beginning of the case. But then the only question is when was she poisoned?" Everyone turned to stare at Masako, who was deep in thought, trying to recollect her memories of the previous day.

"I think I know the solution to my mistake." She said calmly, "Allow me to explain. Upon entering the house I could always sense only one spirit, it hid its identity well, and I could not see it clearly. This I believe was the spirit of the young boy, which I mistook for the mystery spirit, or in this case, his father's ghost after being poisoned. When I was poisoned, I remember hitting something thick and foggy upon entering the hallway from our room, it was like walking through a thick cloud. I didn't take much notice to it. I figured that I was just tired and weak from travel. But afterward, the spirits were harder to sense, and suddenly there were two of them. The more I tried to seek their identities, the more I messed up. I got the two confused, and pushed myself too hard to try to see the one that was ultimately a mirage that I saw as an effect from the poison. I became so confused, I couldn't sense anything right anymore, and I fainted due to dizziness and fatigue, then became ill because of it."

This answer seemed to satisfy everyone in the room. Masako hung her head apologetically and sat back down. "Hey, no worries, it wasn't your fault." John tried to comfort her, but Masako seemed more disappointed with herself making the mistake rather than the actual result of it. Mai looked around at everyone, and felt like she was the only one who didn't understand what was going on.

"What's a poison mirage?" She asked. She suddenly felt stupid for even asking the question; apparently she was supposed to know these kinds of things like it was taped to the back of her hand. Naru chuckled a little, with the same sad vibe to it that made Mai yearn for him to smile.

"Mai, do you really not know?" He smirked at her and if she hadn't been in so much pain at the time, with her foot and her head, she would have fought back, defending herself. But now, she was too tired to argue. Mai hesitantly shook her head no, letting Naru's smirk grow wider with satisfaction. "Well, to put it as simply as I can… A poison marriage is a type of spiritual poison, absorbed through the person's PK energy into his or her life energy. The poison does no real damage to the body, but it confuses the persons PK, causing it to malfunction and not work according to the person's will. In Masako's case, her will was to sense spirits using her PK. The poison confused this energy, and caused it to malfunction; gaining the result we were faced with."

"Oh, I get it." Mai said and then thought for a moment, "So it's kind of like when a person spins you around a lot and then asks you to read off a page?" Monk could not keep himself from laughing, everyone else were hiding their smiles and giggles behind their palms.

"What? What's so funny?" Mai yelled at them, which only made her headache worse and she tried to sink deeper into the pillow, hoping to muffle out the sound of their laughter.

"Nothing was really funny about it; it's just, I never heard someone put it that was before." Naru explained, "I thought it was very amusing." The laughter died down and an awkward silence arose around the room. Everyone was having the same thought running through their minds.

**Me: yay! Another chapter done! I feel like im just making it more and more confusing as time goes on… but trust me! It will all make sense at the end! (I hope XD)**

**Monk: Hey! Cool, can I say it this time?**

**Me: Go for it!**

**Monk: Hey Everyone! Read and REVIEW! Reviews are awesome… ideas…. questions… questions…**

**Me: You said questions twice o.o**

**Monk: Did I? Hm... I guess I just have a feeling that the readers will have a lot of them…**

**Me: Wow… thanks for giving me amazing self-confidence in my writing -.-**


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